


The Fireman's Ball

by Moonsheen



Series: Lio Fotia Now Rules Promepolis [2]
Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Date Night, Established Relationship, Galo knows politics, Governor Lio Fotia, Light BDSM, M/M, Older Lio, Past Kray Foresight/Galo Thymos, Politics, Post-Canon, Power Couple, Promare and Rec, Slice of Life, Suits, Top Lio Fotia, Worldbuilding, everyone is surprised by this, fancy party, revolutionary boyfriendS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 16:08:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22718671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonsheen/pseuds/Moonsheen
Summary: Several years after the Parnassus Incident, Lio Fotia is elected the new leader of Promepolis -- and no one's more surprised than him. This means a lot of things. But first, it means he needs to buy a suit. Second, he has to go to a fancy party.Luckily, Galo's got him covered.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Series: Lio Fotia Now Rules Promepolis [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648738
Comments: 16
Kudos: 204





	The Fireman's Ball

Lio had never really seen himself running Promepolis.

He’d seen himself looking after the Burnish commune, but that wasn’t really political so much as it was necessary. He’d brought them there, secured supplies, medical attention, and found places for them to burn. In truth, he’d hoped to make it something of a country in time, once he’d gathered them all there, handed it off to the right people, made sure everything kept going in their peaceful isolation among the deserts and the volcanos and the boiling pools. Somewhere hellish for most of humanity, but perfect for the Burnish, where they could be left alone, in peace, for the rest of eternity as far as Lio had been concerned.

Hell, up until that ridiculous election he’d seen himself as looking after Promepolis. For the time being, anyway. He’d only been appointed the Burnish representative on the city council as a matter of default. He was the closest thing the Burnish had to an organized leader. So many of them had been brought there against their will. So many of them bore the scars from their time under the Foresight Foundation’s awful watch. They needed someone to advocate for them, and Lio’s flame still unquestionably burned brightest of them. He’d secured them housing, jobs, renewed citizenship, reparations -- from resources conveniently taken from the Parnassus passengers, none of whom wanted their attempt to abandon Earth made public.

Oh, Lio almost had fun shaking those one-percenters down.

But looking after a city wasn’t the same as running it, and it certainly wasn’t the same as running for office, in a free election, decided by a population that wasn’t all Burnish, some of whom damn well remembered he was an international criminal with a thirty-year career of distinctly anti-establishment politics. Sure, he’d been pardoned of most of it, and sure, he’d done two years community service with Burning Rescue to make up for the rest of it, but he thought people’s memories would be a little longer, or their lingering desire for the safe sterility of the Foresight Foundation’s choking hand a little stronger -- but no, they weren’t, and it wasn’t. When the office of selectman (governor, really, though no one wanted to call it that anymore because, well, Kray) was finally open for election, Lio won by an incomprehensible, but completely indisputable, majority.

Which meant a lot of things, really, but first of all it meant going to a lot more fancy parties.

“It’s great they finally finished the park,” said Lio. The conversion of the Parnassus wreck into public housing and parks had started out one of his pet projects, after all. “But I don’t get why I need to wear a suit for the ribbon cutting. We should be holding a picnic, not a ball.”

“Oh, that’s next weekend,” said Galo. “There’s going to be a hot dog eating contest and a kite flying competition. You should totally come to that! But this one’s for the bureau heads and the trustees -- they did put in a lot of money to help get it built.”

“They only did it because we told them we wouldn’t release the Parnassus ship manifest if they put out.”

“I like to think some of them felt a little bad.”

“Sure. About their reputations being in the dirt.”

“And about leaving humanity behind! Some of them, anyway. A few.” Here, Galo’s faith in human nature faltered, just a touch. He shook it off much in the way of a dog out of the bath. “Anyway, securing this kind of funding for any kind of public project is a RIDICULOUS challenge! The fact we got it through and finished it within three years is a serious thing! It should be celebrated! It should be all over the news! And it will be! Aaaaand the press is probably going to be there so we gotta look nice. That’s kinda how it goes. Dress uniforms may not be great for putting out fires, but they’re good for looking like the kinda hero you want to meet some day. And a parade’s fun every now and again.”

Galo got that slightly far-off look when he said that. He knew a lot about heroes. All kinds of heroes. Including the ones that were mostly for show.

Lio looked at him and sighed.

“I see your point,” said Lio, “but I don’t own a dress uniform. Unless you mean my jumpsuit.”

“Oh, the leather’s cool,” said Galo. “The leather’s really, really cool. But that’s deeefinitely not what ‘black tie’ means.”

“It’s black tie?!” Galo showed him the invite again. Lio’d tossed it across the coffee table in disgust when he’d opened it. Lio reread the specifications and scowled. He flicked his wrist in the hopes the paper would go up in flames. As his Promare had been gone for several years now, it stayed unlit. “I don’t even own a suit.”

Galo crossed his arms in thought. “That’s cool. I know a place.”

Lio looked at him sideways. “You know a place.”

“Yeah.”

“Where I can get a suit?”

Galo, presently in his running gear, grinned. “Yeah.”

“Nice enough for a government press function?”

“Oh, yeah.”

Lio let the invitation flutter to the ground and sank back against the sofa, glaring moodily at the opposite wall.

“All right, Galo Thymos,” he said, accepting this odd new thing he’d learned about Galo, the way he accepted all things he learned about Galo. A neverending mystery he wouldn’t trade for the world. “Show me what you have in mind.”

* * *

What Galo had in mind was a men’s warehouse store in the middle of the industrial district. The front wasn’t much -- a general retailer who sold municipal uniforms, the kind of place Lio had been many times in his days of infiltration and extraction of captured Burnish around the world.

The back room was a revelation.

“Galo!” cried the little old tailor as he eased his way out of his chair, setting a magnificent plum double-breasted suit aside as he moved to greet them. “I saw the news! I hoped it would mean I would see you!”

Around them were hangers upon hangers of smart suits, and several dress forms sporting beautiful blazers in various states of completion. A woman was in the process of pinning a blue-silver vest together in the corner.

Galo waded among all this class with a big wide grin. He wrapped the little tailor in a big hug. The little old man barely came to his chest.

“Jimmy!” he bellowed. “Of course I’d be by. I still owe you big time for that work you did the last time I had to go to one of these things. You should’ve seen it, Lio. It was sooo cool.”

“Yes, yes, the navy one.” Jimmy’s eyes twinkled beadily. “And did that one survive the event?”

Galo froze. “Uh…”

The man peered over at Lio with a conspiratorial grin. “This boy here,” he said, patting Galo’s perfect washboard abs. “I have been dressing him for press events since he was ten. One suit used to last him at least until the next growth spurt! Now he wears through my materials like nothing else. These muscles. They are too powerful.”

“Powerful enough to protect the city,” protested Galo. “Peak condition is a must! A must!”

“They have their charms,” admitted Lio.

The little old lady paused in her pinning to walk a careful circle around Lio. She was no taller than Jimmy, but somehow much more intimidating, with her hair pulled up in a severe bun and her nimble fingers twitching thoughtfully.

“You’re the new selectman?” she muttered.

“Oh, hi, Olivia,” said Galo. “I tried your panne cotto last week, it was great -- and you bet! The man himself. Didn’t you see? He won by a landslide!”

“I wouldn’t call it a landslide…” muttered Lio. He still wasn’t used to hearing it. He was more used to that careful, fixed stare as the woman looked him up and down, matching the reputation to the face, and deciding just how much of it was bunk.

“Well, I voted for you,” said Olivia. “You came so highly recommended from Galo-boy over there. He just can’t stop talking about you, but you have a body like a sixteen-year-old.”

“Twenty-two, now,” said Lio, crossing his arms. “The Burnish started aging after the Promare left.”

“And here I thought they had age minimums for public office!”

“You know I’m a little north of fifty, right?” asked Lio, with a smirk. Because if there was anything he appreciated, it was sheer gall. “I’ve got a few years on you, I think.”

The old lady -- who was definitely at least seventy-- whistled appreciatively, before she jabbed Lio in the side. It might’ve been an attempt at a pinch. She got nothing but muscle for her trouble.

“Then eat more,” she declared.

* * *

Turned out, Jimmy and Olivia really knew their stuff. By the time Olivia had finished taking Lio’s measurements, Jimmy had hung up a row of suits on the door to the changing room: one for Galo (“We already know what works for you”), and four for Lio (“These seem about your style”) .

“No white,” said Lio, nixing the first in the row. White was the standard government colors, he knew, but there was government and then there was being The Man, and Lio was determined to keep The Man safely incarcerated. The rest of the sets were hard to choose between. Despite the fact he had to pin the legs up, they didn’t pull or bunch weirdly at all.

“This might be the first time I’ve ever gone formal for something that wasn’t a bust,” said Lio. “How do you narrow it down?”

Galo peered over his shoulder, brow furrowed. “I got this,” he declared, nodding very seriously. “Cross your arms.”

Lio did.

“That one conveys your full air of command!” said Galo. “That’s the one.”

In the end, they went with a modern sleek three-piece in black with a pink lining. Jimmy rang them up while Olivia moved the suits off to her rack for adjustments. They promised they’d have them within a week.

“And don’t you go growing any taller by then!” snapped Olivia.

“I thought you wanted me to eat more.”

“Eat more at the party! Pah!” But she grinned as she waved them off.

“She liked you,” said Galo, as they passed through the rows of uniforms.

Lio recognized the ones for general security guards and the mall cops. He even saw a few meant for EMT’s. He did not, blessedly, see anything belonging to Freeze Force.

“I better have, if she voted for me,” said Lio. “Can’t have the masses demanding my head on a pike just yet -- but exactly how did you know about this place, anyway?”

“Oh, I’ve been coming here since I was a kid.”

“I get that, but…”

“Well, the first time was for the funerals,” said Galo, so matter of factly Lio wished he hadn’t pressed, “but after that I got super involved with Kray’s first campaign when I was… eeeh, fourteen? Fifteen? You know, canvassing, polls, the whole thing. The press got really interested in me again around then, so he started inviting me to things.”

Oh, it was the perfect human interest story: brilliant young candidate rescues boy from fire -- where was he now? Who wouldn’t have passed up someone as bright-eyed and enthusiastic as Galo? He filmed well. Reporters found him charmingly sincere. His face was almost guaranteed to appear on the evening news if there’d been some kind of rescue, grinning like an idiot even when covered in soot.

“You didn’t mind being paraded around like a show pony?” By a man who’d wanted him dead, but Galo hadn’t known that part at the time.

“Oh, no, it was great,” said Galo, without even a hint of regret. “I got to do parades, and town halls, and benefits -- I mean, when things weren’t crazy at the academy, yanno? I promised I’d keep my grades up. Wanted to make sure I could definitely have a career working for the city!”

Ugh. Even the soundbites were good. Kray knew all the angles.

But they were Lio’s angles now, too. He ended up reaching over and grabbing Galo by his jacket. Galo stopped, blinking at him. Lio used his pause to press himself up against him, slinging an arm around Galo’s surprisingly narrow waist.

“Hey?” asked Galo.

“Hey,” said Lio, quietly. “Thanks. This is new territory for me.”

Galo did a half turn to put his own arm around his shoulder and pull him the rest of the way to his chest. They stood together like that on the curb together for awhile, ignoring the glances of the people on the street (“Isn’t that the guy who’s been all over TV lately?”) and the occasional paparazzi shot from someone’s cell phone. Whatever. The thought of that being on the evening news just made Lio wind the other arm around Galo’s waist and shove his hand down his back pocket. Your move, general press.

“All right?” asked Galo, quietly, near his ear. Lio nodded against his chest. “Kind of thought you’d be jumping to change things around here... and at the top you really can--”

“I know,” muttered Lio. “I know. I always wanted a safe place for my people. Just… didn’t think this is how I’d be doing it.”

Galo grinned as he pulled away and took Lio’s face in his hands. “You’re not going to tell me you’re scared are you?”

Lio raised his eyebrows, looking up at him with a crooked smile. “And who said that?”

“No one, because the Lio Fotia I know wouldn’t be intimidated by a little party.”

“Oh, the Lio Fotia you know eats the dogs of society for breakfast,” said Lio. “But something tells me I shouldn’t, in this case.”

“...Yeah, they don’t really like that.”

“And I’m going to need them if I want to get anything else done in this city.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Let’s start with basic intel,” said Lio. “Galo, who the hell are these people?”

* * *

Gueira and Meis drove them in the fanciest car they could find. Lio told them they didn’t have to -- they were running security, after all, and Galo and Lio could take a cab or their bikes--

“But boss, this is, like, big,” said Meis. “Isn’t this kind of like your debut?”

“It’s big for all the Burnish,” said Lio. “I like you guys running point, but you don’t have to go full service or anything. We’re equals. That’s the point--”

Gueira cut him off. “No, no, we get that!” he said. “We all burn together -- but all those rich bastards that are going to be there. They’re going to think they’re better than all of us.”

“Which they’re not,” added Meis.

“Which they’re not,” agreed Gueira, heatedly. “So we want you to look all fancy. Like, you know, a real boss-boss.”

“A fancy boss.”

“The could-order-someone-else-to-kill-you kind of boss!”

“Too much,” said Lio.

Gueira walked it back. “Have your tires slashed?”

Lio thought about it.

“NO?!” cried Galo, from the other side of the room.

“Okay, fine, could get you escorted out if you’re kinda a fucker,” sighed Gueira.

“So no one will invite them to the bridge parties anymore,” added Meis. “You know, stuff for rich people.”

“What the fuck is bridge?” asked Gueira.

Galo sat up. “OKAY DEFINITELY DON’T SAY THAT TO ANY OF THE TRUSTEES LIKE EVER.”

“Okay,” said Lio, crossing his arms. “Let’s be fancy motherfuckers.”

In the end, a cleaned up Gueira and Meis looked less government and more like the wrong kind of cleaning crew. They were sharp in that way that wouldn’t get them past airport security. Lio couldn’t help but admire the complementary red and blue dress shirts they wore under their rented suits and the vast assortment of rings that definitely weren’t rented -- but hey, they were allowed to spend their new stipends however the hell they wanted.

“Hey, boss,” said Gueira, shoving his hands in his pockets and grinning like a lunatic. He leaned up against the door of the rented Rolls’ Royce, when they swung up the apartment to pick them up. “Ready to burn it to the ground?”

Galo took a deep breath, but he managed to control himself. He was a little busy staring back at Lio, plucking at the suit cuffs. It was his first time wearing the whole thing out. “We’ll set fire to their hearts, right?”

Lio grinned up at him. “Right.”

“Ehhh,” Galo looked around, a particular glint caught his eye, and a slow smirk curled at the side of his mouth. “Did you say something? Don’t think I heard you. Don’t think there’s enough burning spirit in the air just yet.”

They shouted over each other until one the neighbors stuck her head out the window and waved a dishrag at them:

“Galo Thymos, would you and your loudass boyfriend get the hell to that party, already?” she shouted. “This is the third time this week! How much more pumping up to you need?!”

“Sorry, Mrs. Carras!” called Galo. “We’ll bring you some leftovers!”

“You’d BETTER!”

* * *

“Oh, Galo Thymos! Is that you?”

The rich widow Calypso Michaelis’s eyesight was starting to go, but that didn’t stop her from dressing in a pink pantsuit worth more than Public Safety’s entire yearly stipend.

“Let me look at you,” she said, glowing as she seized Galo by his head like a recalcitrant dog. “It’s been so long! Four years now?”

“Just two, Miss Michaelis,” said Galo, his face squished between her hands as she pinched both his cheeks like he was made of modeling clay. Miss Michaelis went by her late husband’s name because it was the same name as the trust fund she managed, but she absolutely hated being reminded to him. He’d died in a mistress’ bed. “Sorry it took so long! It’s been a little busy.”

“And what fine work you and your group have done,” she gushed. “Very fine, indeed.”

When her hands began to travel southword, Lio launched his own rescue operation.

“Thanks,” said Lio. “Galo’s good at carrying the day. Have you seen those shoulders?”

“Selectman Fotia!” she said, straightening. “Of course, congratulations on your project as well. I suppose a bit of Burnish fire is not misplaced when it comes to… hm, correcting some of the Foresight foolishness.”

Her face seemed to sharpen as she cast a heavy-lidded, almost blind glance around the park. Lio was reminded of his own independent research: while she had been on the Parnassus’ ship manifest, she’d been placed there by her gold digging personal assistant, and had dumped him on the spot upon learning she was on a starship not a leisure cruise.

In her testimony, she’d said he knew she hated flying.

“You don’t beat around the bush,” said Lio, impressed. Most of the guests they’d greeted had been tip-toeing around Lio’s former Burnish status, though Lio himself wore his earrings proudly, including a little triangle pinned to his lapel. Galo wore one to match.

“I find in my old age that there is no point in dawdling,” said Miss Michealis. Here, she cast a notably mournful look to Galo. It shifted to lustful halfway through. Galo somehow managed a polite grin at being so loudly mentally undressed. “You never know what morsels might be snatched from your plate!”

“Fires spread fast,” admitted Lio. That got Galo rallying. He puffed up, ready to deliver one of his truly epic presentations on proper firescaping -- except Lio hooked his arm through his and gave it a squeeze. It rendered him oddly speechless. “Guess it’s worth it to bring a firefighter as your date.”

Miss Michaelis lips twinged, slightly, but she looked equally impressed.

“I suppose so,” said Miss Michealis. “Well played all around, Selectman. Well played.”

Kosta Antoni owned a grocery chain that had survived an attempt at an aggressive buy-out from one of the Foresight Foundation’s shell companies during a period when the pharmaceutical branch had tried to a line of experimental ‘non-flammable foods.’ An operation that had failed for a number of obvious reasons.

‘Oh, Kray got tense around him,’ Galo had explained. ‘I mean yeah, Kray got… tense around everyone, but he’d be real stiff after having to say ‘hi’ to him. Kosta likes to give really spirited handshakes. I think it’s a sign of a real man, but Kray thought it was a little rude.’

Kosta also liked cooking and talking about his grandkids. He’d just had his seventh, a fact Lio made sure to congratulate him on right out the gate -- along with taking his hand before the older man could do it first.

“Ho, a quick draw,” laughed Kosta. “What a firm grip. You know, I knew you Burnish aged well, but here I was thinking, ‘Who let this kid in?’”

“I’ve been told I should eat more,” admitted Lio.

“Yeah! Lio cooks an amazing moussaka, by the way,” added Galo.

“Moussaka!” Kosta’s eyes lit up. “A fellow Greek, are you?”

“By way of Detroit, sure,” admitted Lio. “Family used to run a diner. Before... well.” He stopped himself from gesturing with his wrist, to reach for a fire he couldn’t actually summon anymore. He might now be confusingly legit, but too many people in the room might take that as a threat.

Kosta didn’t seem to be one of them. He put a hand on Lio’s shoulder with no fear, his eyes sparkling.

“Mine started with a restaurant,” he whispered.

They discovered Heris hiding out behind the punch bowl, staring firmly at her open tablet. She wore her lab coat over a new, plain blue dress -- fresh off the rack, if the unripped tag sticking out the collar of her coat was any indication. Her only concession to the formality of the party were the charms she’d hung off of the court-mandated tracker bracelet to make it look a little more like an accessory -- though Lio admitted they never had to check it. Heris practically lived in the municipal building when she wasn’t on site.

“How are the readings?” asked Lio, peering over her shoulder.

“Air quality’s strong, the venting systems are working perfectly, and the hydroponics should be fully functional within a week,” Heris blinked rapidly as it finally registered who’d asked her. “Selectman Fotia!”

“Just ‘Lio’ from you is fine,” said Lio. “I think we both have issues with that kind of authority.”

“...Sorry,” murmured Heris, in a smaller voice. Her eyes traveled to Lio’s left, where Galo had been attacking the punchbowl, and her eyes went even rounder. “Ah, and Galo--”

“Is my date, yes,” said Lio. The word ‘date’ seemed to crawl up Galo’s back. He managed to ring the punch bowl like a bell as he straightened up. His face got caught in its own journey as he spotted Heris.

“Oh, hey,” he said, neutrally -- which from Galo may as well have been glacial. Lio’s hand twitched around a fire he could no longer kindle. “Good of you to turn up.”

“Aina thought I should,” said Heris.

After the Parnassus incident, she’d moved back in with her sister-- in part because Aina had insisted, but in part because Aina had agreed to act as her city-appointed monitor. It was part of the plea bargain the city had offered Heris, when she’d turned over all of the Parnassus documentation, and the test recordings, and given her witness testimony as to Kray Foresight’s wrongdoings. She’d basically buried him.

“She’s right,” said Galo. “You worked hard on this.”

“Thank you?” Heris’ fingers drummed nervously over the top of the tablet. “I… should really go take more readings.”

“Tell Aina we said ‘hi!’” called Galo after her.

“I will,” said Heris, as she retreated through the crowd, hunching to avoid questions from eager reporters as she went.

* * *

“Okay you seen how they organized the green? Fun fact: about like, two hundred years ago, the trees in forests didn’t used to be so close together. It was only because of COMPLETELY IMPROPER forest management that we ended up with trees that were way too close together! It may look like good solidarity, but when the branches are that close -- that’s just a recipe for a crown fire! That’s why the great California Wildfires of the early 2000's were such a disaster. Fires were just burning hotter than anyone knew what to do with -- it wasn’t anything on the Great Blaze, but it was still pretty bad!”

Galo knew a lot about the history of firefighting. A small circle had gathered around him by the rec center’s panoramic windows. Somehow, he’d found the projector with the holo map of the park. He pointed it at the window and blew it up about fifty times for effect. He gestured emphatically, spinning the model fast enough a few of the guest’s eyes crossed to follow it.

“The answer of course, is firescaping! I, Galo Thymos, have personally helped to give my expert opinion on what plants would be best for minimizing a blaze, and minimizing spread if something were to go up! Which, by the way, won’t happen because there are strict ordinances on barbecuing in this park--”

“Makes sense, with all the former Burnish,” muttered one of the guests.

Galo heard him. Galo whirled with his eyes lit. “Hold it,” he said. “See, that’s the kind of thinking that led to those wildfires! Led to them! Did you know that the reason the trees were so close together was because people thought that you had to take out all fires! But actually, some fires are GOOD for forests. It’s because--”

What followed was a shockingly well researched lecture of the founding of the US National Parks and their conservation practices. Galo’s existing audience froze in shock. He gathered about ten more in the meantime. His voice sure carried far.

Lio lifted his champagne class to hide his smirk.

“Maaan, what a turnout.”

Lio lifted his eyes. Emerging from the bar was a tanned, sandy-haired young man with bright green eyes. He held a brightly colored cocktail that looked suspiciously like the purples and gold of a Burnish flame.

“It’s a Blazing Spirit,” explained the young man, “I asked the caterers to come up with a specialty drink. What do you think? Remind you of the Promare?”

“No,” said Lio.

But he knew who this was. Galo’d prepped him on this specimen, too. Cameron Chance, the nephew of the municipal events coordinator and general professional rich layabout. He knew how to put the trappings on a party. Galo knew him from his school days, when they’d worked together on Kray’s political campaign.

Cameron answered this by downing it with a single gulp. “Ah -- tastes like burning all the way down, though,” he said, cheerfully enough. “Sure you don’t want to try it?”

“I have some delusions of sobriety.”

“You’re the selectman,” said Cameron. “You can do whatever you want.”

“And you think getting sloppy drunk is one of those things?” asked Lio, amused.

“It’d be a change of pace from the old Foresight productions,” said Cameron. “They weren’t bad, Aunt Senex knows her stuff, but they could be way more stuffy. The old Governor really set the tone, you know?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Lio. “What were they like?”

“Stark, elegant,” said Cameron. “Cold as hell, though. Galo was always a breath of fresh air at these things.”

“I’ll bet.”

Galo at present was demonstrating through interpretive dance the importance of the pavement placement with regards to potential rescue vehicles. He was doing an extremely animated rendition of his Matoi deployment sequence. It looked utterly stupid. It was embarrassing how Lio could’ve watched it all evening.

Cameron was still talking. “...owe you for that.”

“Hm?”

“Bringing him back, of course,” said Cameron. He stood on his toes, peering across the crowd that by now had gathered around Galo. “Hey, Galo! Good to see you again! Wanna come back to my apartment after this?!”

Galo paused in his animated presentation, waving back with a happy if somewhat bewildered expression.

“His boyfriend’s right here,” observed Lio, mildly.

“I’m fine with threesomes?”

Lio took note of this particular trust fund baby, with his chiseled good looks accomplished through a careful skin routine and an expensive gym membership and probably several personal trainers.

“You’re not my type,” he said.

Cameron Chance deflated. Considering he was several drinks in, this involved a bit of swaying. “Ah, damn. Can’t blame me for trying?”

Lio took note of Galo, with his own set of good looks achieved through sheer enthusiasm and a very rigorous morning routine, which included jogging twenty blocks back and forth with a weighted bag over his shoulder.

“Not really,” admitted Lio. “Think you had a chance?”

“With the governor out of the picture? Yeah?!” blustered Cameron. “Oh, sorry. You don’t mind me saying--”

Lio swirled his champagne glass consideringly, he kept his expression very carefully neutral. He’d worked this angle before. “Don’t let me stop you.”

“My qualifications are working against me,” moaned Cameron. “Guess you have to run a city to get anywhere with him these days.”

“He does have a thing for competence,” admitted Lio.

“I’m competent! Do you know how hard it is to keep yourself from having to do too much with my aunt?!”

“He has a thing for getting stuff done, too.”

“Aah, yeah. That’s right,” Cameron swayed again, accepting his defeat about as gracefully as someone who’d never been denied anything could. “He’ll run you down if you’re not careful.”

“I think I can keep up,” said Lio, consideringly.

Cameron whistled. “Rub it in why don’t you.”

Galo jogged up to them, grinning ear to ear. Lio made a point of standing on his toes to peck him on the cheek.

“Got some converts to the joys of firescaping?” murmured Lio.

Galo’s ears turned red. He looked speechless -- a state which on Galo only really lasted about a second or two. “Well -- yeah! It’s really amazing what you can do with some succulents and natural grasses! You should talk to Miss Eugenia by the way, she’s super curious about the Renewal Project, and I think she might even be interested in drumming up some votes for it--”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Lio.

* * *

Halfway through the night Lio excused himself to get some air. Fire was always hungry for oxygen. And the press of bodies got a little dizzying after awhile.

Galo found him out on the second floor balcony. He arrived with a cup of sparkling water. There was a sliver of lime in it. He pressed it against Lio’s temple.

“That’ll cool you off soon.”

“Careful,” said Lio. “I might melt you.”

“As if I let you,” Galo smirked confidentally, but concern danced in his eyes a little like embers. “Don’t tell me you’re faltering now. No one’s given you trouble, right? You know what I always say -- point the way and I’ll set ‘em straight.”

Galo was a more anxious person than people ever realized. Lio looked up from where he’d been leaned over the railing, staring out into the newly planted gardens. The hull of Parnassus still stuck out all around them, but with the tiers of park rising around them it didn’t look like the torture chamber it had been anymore.

Lio poured the rest of his drink over the side.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.” Lio set down his glass and turned on the rail, looping his arms over the back and tilting his head up towards the night sky. “Just don’t think I’ve ever gone to a party like this as guest of honor.”

“Have you been to a party like this?”

“Sometimes, to find out who was holding Burnish and where,” said Lio. “Different kind of politics. These people live in a completely different world. One where my people didn’t really factor in.”

“Well, they have to now,” said Galo. He draped his arms over the rail next to him. The sharpness of his suit was at odds with the casual pose. Lio wondered how fast he’d throw that blazer off if they got an emergency call. “That’s why we’re here, right? To make sure they have to acknowledge people who aren’t like them. People can’t pretend you’re not human when they’re looking you in the eye.”

“You’re… not wrong.” Lio looked up. There were too many lights -- from the buildings and the surrounding city -- to give him a good look at the stars, but he tried anyway. He wondered which one the Promare had gone to. He wondered how long it would take for their light to return to Earth. “I just wish more people thought like you.”

“What, balls to the wall and an expert at fire safety?”

“No. A good person.” Lio turned and touched his cheek. “The kind of person who reminds me it’s worth it to keep fighting.”

Lio kissed him. Galo jumped slightly under his lips. He didn’t pull away, but he went tense, gripping the rail.

“What?” asked Lio, pulling away. He poked Galo in the forehead. “Since when have you been shy?”

Galo’s brows furrowed under his finger. “Never! Just…” His foot tapped anxiously. “I’m not used to coming to these things as someone’s plus one. Like, plus one-plus one.”

Lio translated that quickly in his head.

He frowned. “But didn’t you do these with Kray”

“Yeah, but that’s Kray.”

“But weren’t you and Kray…”

Lio’d known. Lio’d known a long time now. When he’d first met Galo he’d taken him for Kray’s lapdog. He just didn’t realize the extent to which that’d applied. Kray had been Galo’s hero. Galo had been devoted to him in pretty much every way imaginable. Kray hadn’t been above using that to his advantage.

And Kray was, when all was said and done, a neurotic bitch.

“Yeah,” said Galo, with a smile that made Lio positively ache with the desire to go marching down to the prison block where the former governor was being kept under polite but permanent house arrest to kick him in the teeth. “But that’s Kray.”

“I’m not.”

Galo blinked. “I know?”

Lio breathed out. “Of course you do.” He shook his head, because, really, what’d come over him. “But I’d be obligated to kick my own ass if you didn’t. Just to be clear. I didn’t bring you here as just my plus one, or as some kind of political aid or campaign manager, even if you’re… confusingly good at that. I keep saying it. You’re my date, all right, Galo? You’re my boyfriend and you’re here as my date.”

“That’s…” Galo began to wriggle in place. The wriggle caught on to his whole body, until at last he exploded onto his toes, throwing his arms around Lio and swinging him around at least three times before leaning them both against the railing. “Aaaaah, Lio!!! That’s too much! My heart is aflame! It might burst! Take responsibility!”

“Oh come on!” Lio had to grab at Galo’s elbows to steady himself. “It’s not news, is it? I’ve said it… a lot, already.”

“You did,” said Galo. “It’s amazing. Say it again, will you? Think I need reminding! It’s still news!”

“Idiot!” Lio hooked his arms around his neck and yanked Galo the required few inches to smash their noses together. “It shouldn’t be! I don’t mess around! Take me seriously!”

“I do, I do!”

“Take me more seriously!”

Galo didn’t seem likely to do that any time soon, so Lio pressed their mouths together instead. He kissed him on the lips, and the side of his mouth, and his chin, and then back on his mouth again, to stop him from whooping loud enough to bring the whole party outside to see what was going on. Then he grabbed Galo’s head to keep him in place before he could squirm out of his arms, and then he had to kiss him a little deeper to match pace, because Lio had a reputation to keep, and then--

“Hey, boss.” Gueira strolled out the double doors. “We caught some dumbasses trying to do a line of coke in the bathroom. Meis’ got them all stuffed in a closet. We could take turns dangling ‘em out a third floor window if you want, but Meis said since you're selectman now we should probably ask if we’re still doing that -- so are we still doing that, or do you want to do the honors, or -- hello!”

Lio opened one eye mid-kiss. Then, with a sigh, he broke away from Galo. He took a long measured breath. He did not, to his personal pride, flick a non-existent spark across Gueira’s nose.

“...How much cocaine?” he asked, very carefully.

* * *

The night air was only a little crisp as they escaped from the main viewing parlor that had held the reception. Lio supposed he could’ve actually slipped his arms into the sleeves of his jacket, but he liked the way it swished around him like a cloak. It gave him the kind of presence that made people leap out of his way, and the drunk loiterers did just that then as they made their way down the steps to the traffic circle, where Meis waved them down at the curb.

Gueira hung halfway out the window. It was his turn to drive. “Where to, boss?”

Lio paused.

“Well?” asked Lio. “Any afterparties I should know about?”

Galo rubbed his nose with a sheepish laugh. “Oh, we’re not committed to anything. Yet, anyway! I thought I’d leave that up to you.”

“Do I have options?”

Galo happily supplied them: Mrs. Michaelis would be having cocktails at her penthouse, Kosta liked to show off his wine cellar, Miss Eugenia opened up the rooftop gardens of one of her hotel chains, and Cameron just outright invited them back to his apartment -- per his earlier request.

“Persistent, isn’t he. Guess it’s flattering, but no.” Lio eyed Galo up and down as he weighed his options. “...What did you used to do after these? Kray drag you out to any of those after parties?”

“Kray dragged me… eeeeh.” Galo’s ears went a little red. He became very interested in a piece of pavement under his polished shoe.

Right. That. There was an elephant in the traffic circle, and that elephant was currently doing fourteen life sentences and still managing to piss Lio off. He tried another tack.

“I see,” he said, nodding appraisingly. “Well. Where do you want to go?”

“Eh?”

“You came all this way just for me,” said Lio. “a you played the room like a fiddle. You think I’ll let a debt like that stand, Galo Thymos? No, I intend to spoil you. We do what you want to do. So. What will it be?”

* * *

“Thanks for the lift,” said Lio, leaning through the door. “Sorry to pull you away early.”

Gueira grinned and gave the dash a smart pat. “Nah, it’s cool. We were hoping to have an excuse to take this sweet ride out for an extra spin, anyway.”

Galo leaned over Lio. “That thing’s a rental!”

“Don’t worry, boy scout,” promised Meis. “We won’t do anything to put the boss to shame.”

The tires screamed as the car pulled around the corner.

“We just lent a government rental to a pair of motorcycle hooligans,” realized Galo. He stared at the tire marks on the street with a dawning horror. “I’ve lived long enough to become the villain.”

Lio dusted off his hands. “They’ll get it back before noon tomorrow. Probably.”

Together, they looked up at the apartment complex behind them. It loomed more dramatically than it ought to. They’d only walked in a thousand times. Galo had lived there for the last five years. Lio only just found out he lived there about a year ago, even though he’d been crashing there since the Parnassus Incident.

It’d taken awhile for Lio to realize he considered Promepolis anything like a home.

“This is surprisingly low energy for you,” admitted Lio, when the automatic lights came on in the foyer. He folded his blazer neatly over his arm and looked for one of those color-coded hooks Galo kept near the door for coats and hats. Galo had a system for just about everything that came in or out of the place. Organization was super important in the event of an emergency, after all. “I thought you’d want to stop by the lake.”

He slumped against the foyer wall as he loosened his tie. It felt like he could finally breathe again.

“That’s nice, too.” Galo mulled a little in the hallway, hands in the pockets of those nice high-waisted dress pants. Lio had to admit it made a real picture: Galo, rocking on his heels, looking as close to thoughtful as he could go. He still had the little Burnish Pride triangle pinned to his lapel. It only hung a little crooked. The flush wasn’t from alcohol. Galo’d been responsible about that, too. “But it’s nicer to come home with you, right? You had a good night, Lio? Right?”

The ‘right’ hit a little hitch. Only Lio, who’d lived with him longer than he’d stayed in any one place in the last thirty years, noticed that little note of uncertainty. It mattered to him that Lio had enjoyed himself. It mattered to the point Lio ached just looking at him. Happiness had stopped being one of Lio’s immediate goals from his twenties on. Peace had been the big one for so long. He was so getting used to wanting happiness again.

Lio took a deep breathe. “You did most of the prep work.”

“Yeah, but I like doing that. Especially if it’s setting the stage.”

He bobbed his foot, which in Galo terms meant he was just plain anxious.

Lio came over and pulled him the rest of the way into the apartment by the tie. He shut the door after him.

“I’m just catching my breath,” said Lio. Running your city’s a lot of work, Galo. Even the parties are work. But with you? …Heh. I like making those one-percenters work for it. I feel like we laid some good ground work. It’s nice to make a difference, now and then. I didn’t even have to burn down a building to do it.”

Galo’s face really was something else. First he brightened, then he grinned, then he bounced on his feet, set his legs apart and gave Lio that grim, determined set of his chin. That dynamic pose of his looked even better in the suit. Lio wondered if he could get a framed picture of it. “If you tried that, I’d be the one to put you out.”

Good. Galo was happiest when he got to be a firefighting idiot. “I’d count on it.” Lio raised an eyebrow at him. “But we’re not talking about what I want right now. I said I’d spoil you. I don’t go back on my word.”

“Oh.” Galo blinked, rapidly. His perfect, cross-armed pose faltered, just a little. "That’s not hard. I want to be with you.”

Which made Lio’s chest fill with that deep heart-fire that reminded him of a Burnish bonfire, but it didn’t really answer the question.

“And?” asked Lio.

“You’ve already spoiled me plenty. This has been a great night. It’s been a really, really great night-- I mean, like, top ten, definitely--”

He was rambling, cheeks flushed with little points of red as his eyes danced at the memory of it. Lio laid his hand over his chest.

“Yeah, well. That’s easy.” Lio leaned up, pitching his voice low as he let his lips not quite touch Galo’s jaw as he murmured. “You look good when I spoil you. Let me do it a little more.”

Galo’s eyes lit up like a microwave at the end of its timer. Ding. “Hah,” he said. “Oh, you mean sex.”

“Yes.” Lio waved his arm at the apartment behind him, as though presenting the grandest of penthouse hotels. Actually, when he’d been elected, he’d been offered the old gubernatorial suites. He’d refused instantly. “I’ll ask again: what do you want to do?”

Galo dropped his chin. His grin took on a crooked, sheepish little bent.

“Got to admit,” he said, an octave below the little bluster. He even glanced away in some of the weirdest most sincere false modesty Lio’d ever seen. “Was kind of hoping you’d do me.”

* * *

Even in this, Galo couldn’t help but be reflexively responsible.

“Lube,” he muttered, against Lio’s mouth. “Deeefinitely need lube! First aid kit -- by the door--!”

Lio knew the one. One of their night routines was to check to make sure all the first aid kits were still stocked, after all. Not that it was easy to focus on that, just then, not when he’d shoved Galo past the chairs by the back of his blazer, fumbling to open the tube with his teeth as he man-handled him against the couch.

“Pah,” grumbled Lio, as he spat the cap out over his shoulder and fumbled for Galo’s belt. He had to talk between kissing him: hot, burning kisses that made his blood sing behind his eyes. It was a challenge worth answering. “I’ve done -- enough -- multi-tasking -- tonight -- watch out for the--”

Lio reached for Galo’s tie. Galo’s hand closed over his, thumb running in a little circle against his.

“Do we have to take it all off?” Galo mumbled against his chin, somewhere half-way between coy and sheepish. Lio wasn’t sure how he managed to make that look good, but he did, crooked smile and everything. Lio couldn’t help but lean into him, lean his leg between his, let him feel him all the way up and down, even through the layers of extremely nice clothes they really ought to do away with right about then--

“What,” said Lio, holding onto some vestigial composure. He held out the length of Galo’s tie, not unlike a leash. “Should I tie you up with it?”

The reflexive jump of Galo’s cock through his dress pants was answer enough.

So, Lio did tie him up with it. He knew a lot of different ways to tie up a man, usually with the aim of keeping him there -- but this time Lio used a loose knot, easy to slip if needed. Galo showed no signs of wanting to.

“Hey Lio. Roll me over, will ya?”

Lio pressed a kiss against the underside of his jaw, he could feel the blood beating there: Galo’s wonderful, searing pulse. “You sure? I thought you liked to look man in the eyes when you--”

“Sure do,” said Galo. “And I will! I want to ride the hell out of you! But right now -- kinda --” He stumbled. He was talking around mouthing at Lio’s ear. Lio hadn’t stopped running his lips up his jaw. “Kinda wanna feel it, y’know?”

Lio had promised to spoil Galo. So he did. He gripped at Galo’s bound wrists, and turned him over. He pushed into him, good and slow, propping himself up so he could watch the muscles jump in Galo’s neck as he sank into him, so he could feel the way his body bucked under him, pushing back instinctively -- always ready to meet the challenge, even as he ground a little helplessly against the arm of the couch. Lio had promised to spoil Galo, so he talked him through it, leaning over his shoulder so that Galo could just barely see him as he craned his head around. “Ah, damn. You really are a sight like this. Even when you’re under me -- you take it ridiculously well. You’re unbelievable. Really. How the hell do you manage that?”

He bit his ear and pulled at the tie. Galo let out a low groan. “Guess -- you just -- get me that fired up!”

“Heh. Careful, saying that to me.” Lio made a point of several sharp, fast thrusts, the kind that made Galo’s whole body bounce in a satisfying way that made the couch creak a little dangerously. “You’ll make me want to burn you up. How do you think you’ll put me out, then?”

And Galo, even gasping, even straining under him, managed a hoarse laugh. “Leave it to the professional. You can always trust me to -- ngh -- be there -- whenever you get -- too hot--”

And somehow that sent a shot of heat running right through Lio’s stomach. He quickened his pace, bracing himself against Galo’s sweaty back as he wound the tie around his own knuckles.

“You’re good at getting me there. You know that, right?”

Apparently this was news to Galo, because his body stuttered under Lio and he came, messily, against the arm of the couch. His suit pants were spared at least. They were already a lost cause around one of his ankles. Galo twitched and shuddered. Lio rocked against him, more gently now. He was still hot. He was still burning up, really, but he forced his hips to still.

Through the blood beating in his ears, he heard Galo mutter something.

“Mm?”

“...still wanna ride the hell out of you,” Galo, muttered. Only he could sound hot and petulant at the same time.

Like he hadn’t just had an orgasm that hit harder than piece of rescue equipment.

“You’re ridiculous,” said Lio, running a hand through his own sodden bangs, but he slipped out, and slipped across the couch. When he hauled Galo over onto his aching lap, Galo was already twitching back to attention. Lio held him by his wrists, marveling at the impossibility of it all. “So ridiculous, I think I’ll have to take you right now. How’s that sound?”

“AWESOME,” said Galo.

And Lio did.

* * *

When he brought in the omelettes the next morning, Lio assessed the damage.

“Is it totally wrecked?” asked Galo, peering up muzzily from the crooked sheets.

Lio considered the pile at his feet. The buttons could be sewn back on. The stains could be dry-cleaned. Maybe. That busted seam...

“Completely,” confirmed Lio. He set down the tray of food on the bedside table. He folded the wrecked blazer over his arm and laid it with as much respect as could be managed into the hamper. He resisted the urge to say a prayer over it. It’d done it’s duty and then some.

Laid out on the bed, still gloriously naked from the fourth round on, Galo rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Ah, hell,” he said. “Been awhile since I’ve managed that.”

Lio eyed him as he crawled back onto the bed. “You really do make a habit of this. Nevermind, why am I surprised? I’ve seen what you do to your shirts.”

“Clothes are hard sometimes!” Galo dragged his hand down his face. “Ugh, gonna have to tell Jimmy and Olivia, though. And they always put so much thought into it. I said I wouldn’t this time!”

“You can tell them it was my fault,” said Lio. It wasn’t exactly a lie. He’d popped several of those buttons himself. “I’ll buy you the next set.”

Galo looked up through his fingers.

“Next one?” The wonder in his eyes was as dazzling as it was a little aching. Lio felt his throat tighten with that conflicting emotion. He wanted to throw his arms around him. He wanted to punch Kray Foresight in his fucking face.

He settled for the first one. It was the right choice. He loved throwing Galo back across the bed, laughing as he pushed back his ridiculous, rooster-like hair.

“Yeah? I’m going to have to get used to these things, and I’m going to take you to the next one,” said Lio. “And the one after that. And the one after that. I mean, assuming you don’t have a shift. I know your priorities. Not like I’d deprive Promepolis it’s number one idiot firefighter.”

“The best number one idiot firefighter.”

“Yes. Don’t think there’d be more than one.” But Lio kissed him for that. “Do you want to do it again? With me?”

“Like, right now? Hell yeah.” Galo grasped at his hips and pulled him over his lap, then he noticed Lio’s startled expression. “Oh. You meant the parties.”

“I meant the parties,” said Lio, breathlessly, “but that works, too.”

Breakfast ended up pretty damn cold, but it was fine. Lio was getting good at reheating food in kitchens again. Living in Promepolis meant making those kinds of adjustments -- but hey, he ran the place now. He could do it at his own pace.

* * *

“I mean, it could be worse,” said Gueira. “It could be a lot worse.”

“Didn’t wreck the car,” said Meis.

“Didn’t wreck the car!” agreed Gueira, proudly. “See? It was a good night!”

“I mean, thanks for that,” said Lio. The scene was one of deeper and deeper confusion. “But… how did you manage to park it up on the roof garden?”

“Ask Gueira,” said Meis.

“Ask Meis,” said Gueira.

Some mysteries were going to go unsolved.

But hey, he had a nice conversation with Miss Eugenia while they hauled the thing down. Turned out, she was super interested in the Renewal Project and wanted to hear more. If Galo Thymos had been so excited about it, it had to be something good.


End file.
